Here is a small selection of the many kind words people have made after using Samarakoon Tours.

If you are a previous visitor and would like to give your feedback, or if you have photographs of your visit, please email Sam (sam@samarakoon.com) and mention if you are happy for it to be used on this website.

We booked our sri lanka itinerary with Mr.Sam , because he had been recommended by friends and collegues at school.
All communication was handled promptly and efficiently, and he was always very clear in his e-mail to us.
He booked several hotels for us, and we negotiated our daily excursions through a serious of e-mails.
We met Mr.Sam in person while stay in sri lanka, and he was immediately warm, friendly and very helpful.
We had a wonderful holiday in Sri Lanka.

I got to know Sam and his services from a friend who engaged his services and strongly recommended him!
True enough, we (my parents, my sister and I) had an amazing holidays in Sri Lanka. All thanks to Sam for planning an awesome itinerary based on our preferences. He took care of our safety, brought us to places where not typical tourists will visit and brought us to local restaurants that serve delectable dishes at reasonable price.
We opted for low budget/ 2 stars accommodations and the hotels that he booked for us exceeded our expectations. Esp the hotel at Thissamaharama Lake wind hotel. It has an awesome view and a nice patio overlooking the lake.
We truly enjoyed Sri Lanka and would highly recommend anyone and my friends to engage his services!
Jia Jia

Our tour with you was very memorable. We really appreciated your knowledgeable commentary.All the accommodation that Samarakoon tours chose for us was absolutely perfect. But the best part of the trip was your flexibility, the way you were able to change everything to suit our likes and dislikes. We have already recommended you to several of our colleagues and they have been as delighted with their tours as we were with ours.They were so helpful and anything we asked for they were only too happy to help.We were very sad parting ways when we made our way to the airport for the next leg of our trip. It was a holiday we will never forget and we hope to be back again in the near future.
Jeremy Smith

Reading all the nice reviews regarding Samarakoon Tours, I decided to contact them for our family holiday in Sri Lanka It was a fantastic experience! What people say in their reviews about Sam and his team actually true. They are pro-active, enthusiastic and very communicative. Thanks to Samarakoon Tours we had an amazing time in Sri Lanka, everyone of our family agrees on this one! Sam and his driver never disappointed us and they were very flexible, which is important if you only have one week of holiday. If we ever go to Sri Lanka again, I'm 100% sure it will be with Samarakoon Tours again.Thank you for a wonderful experience!
Eric Bertheau

We booked our tour for a family of 4 (with 2 kids) with Samarakoon tours. We spend around 10 days exploring Sri Lanka with Samarakoon team. It was a great experience with Samarakoon team. Kids love the whole experience. All the arrangements, pickup, stays, sightseeing, was well arranged and properly explained and taken care. I would recommend samarakoon tours as an excellent and wish them all the best for future !!
Shuwei Wendy

Samarakoon Tours was an excellent experience to compliment our first family holiday to Sri Lanka. Sam was excellent, helpful and prompt to make the tour arrangements via email, including flexible options. Especially considering that we had 3 young children, Therefore sam was great at tailoring a tour to suit all of us.
As promised, our tour commenced on time and was with in very comfortable Van. Sam came with his driver. Sam was our guide.
We really enjoyed our time with Sam and Samarakoon Tours, very friendly, informative and relaxing - Well done. Highly recommended.
Marie,George

What a holidays - we had a sweet bite in mango shaped island of Indian ocean!!! We had a week(!) only to explore the best of Srilanka and Sam + Darshana made this happen for real with a class. We are thankful for Sam's hotel bookings, tour preparation, showing us around, being so thoughtful and helpful, and teaching / learning us things we didn't know before. Culture exchange makes every trip so special!Of course, everything wasn't so "picture perfect" just because of weather, what we can not order in advance, and other issues, but overall, Sam's service is good and price is reasonable. Thanks for making our holiday calm,
with no stress and showing how friendly your nation really is! P.S. Sam, you can be totally peaceful, Darshana will be a great follower of you - careful, friendly and eager to know/learn from people abroad!Experience comes with time!
Lasma & Herve,

Thanks a lot to take care of us. We enjoy a lot during 12 days in Sri Lanka with you. Nice country and very nice places to visit.
We will recommend all our friends to go there and to contact with you for a nice trip.
We remember this fantastic holidays and it haven't been the same without you.
We recommend everybody to enjoy near Sam of this fantastic country.
Nice man and nice person.
Sam, we never forget you!

Mr Sam organized a great 3 week tour of Sri Lanka for us. He took care of all of the hotel bookings, train bookings and helped us to organize a suitable itinerary for our family. He is a friendly driver who is keen to share his knowledge of Sri Lanka. During our trip he sorted out any issues that we had with accommodation or tickets quickly and efficiently and was keen to make our trip go as smoothly as possible. He knows lots of good places to eat and shop too! We travelled with 2 small children and he was always playing and interacting with them and making sure that they were safe and happy. I would recommend him to anyone looking for a relaxed, well organized trip of Sri Lanka. Thank you Mr Sam for making our holiday so special.

We had the luck and the honor of getting three guides in Sri Lanka. First, Sam who came recommended by friends. And, Darshana, a trainee guide on his first trip. As Sam had a family emergency midway during the trip, we had a two-day stand-in, Upali, Sam's relative and a seasoned guide who's eloquent and funny.
Sam's prices are reasonable (great for people on a budget) and his recommended hotels are clean and spacious. We especially love Ella Flower Resort and Lake Wind Hotel! Except our last hotel cabana, Paradise Beach Club, which was 'liveable', but we decided to indulge in more comfort as it was our final stop that would last two nights.
Sri Lanka, both the beautiful country and her people, left great impressions on us.
Without a doubt, we will return again and will definitely seek any one of these three guides to bring us around.

We have just got back from 2 amazing weeks in Sri Lanka. Traveling as 2 families, (4 adults and 5 children under the age of 6), we spent 8 days with Mr Sam as our guide seeing some of Sri Lanka’s highlights. His knowledge and experience of everywhere we went was vast, his driving was very safe, but most of all his interaction with the kids was brilliant - they all loved him (and so did we)! Our 4 year old is adamant his highlight of the entire holiday was Mr Sam. I would recommend him to anyone and everyone who is contemplating visiting this amazing country.
Thank you Mr Sam! Thanks again Mr Sam, it really was a brilliant trip, we talk about Sri Lanka constantly!
Carl & Alice (and Archie, Milo and Lottie).mail@carlbrown.net
Apr-2015

“When we start to plan our journey to Sri Lanka someone recommend us Sam as reliable person who could support us. It was the best advice we could get ;
We send Sam the list with places we would like to see and he did whole planning. As we were traveling with children and first time in Asia it was important for us to have everything booked in advance. We loved Sri Lanka from the first day. The climate, landscape, nature, history… everything was beautiful. We felt there very safe. Support provided by Sam was on the highest level. The trip was planned very well but if we needed to add any stop on the why or reschedule he was open and flexible. The hotels recommended by Sam met all our demands. Those vacations were unforgettable – thank you Sam! You will stay in our hearts forever .
” Malgorzata, Joanna, Tomasz, Piotr & childrentyrekg@gazeta.plJoanna.Partyka@brenntag.pl
Jan-2015

We spent an amazing holiday in Sri Lanka – thanks to Sam! He took us everywhere safely and showed us so many things apart from a usual sightseeing tour. With his experience and his good advice we enjoyed many places at the best time with the best weather and for a real good price. The hotels Sam selected for us surpassed our expectations.
It was a very exciting journey and we enjoyed to visit beautiful Sri Lanka – together with our guide and good friend Sam.
Dear Sam, thank you so much!

My wife and I were planning a three week holiday in Sri Lanka, meeting up with our daughter for the first two weeks who would fly in separately from Bangkok. My wife basically designed the itinerary and then we looked for somebody local to organize it all for us. We came across Sam’s tours and judging from his many very positive reviews decided to go with him. Although we planned the itinerary it was left to Sam to come up with suitable accommodation and provide the transport. Normally we would go for 3 to 4 star hotels but to accommodate our daughters limited budget we opted for two star/ guest houses. Sam came up with them all and assured us they would all be clean, in the right place and have aircon. we were not disappointed, all his accommodation was good, some excellent so considering the price paid we were very pleased.
Shortly before our holidays Sam told us that our tour guide/ driver would be Upali, his brother in law. We were a bit disappointed, expecting to have Sam and not knowing what this Upali would be like, well we need not have worried. Upali was absolutely fantastic, nothing was too much trouble, his English was very easy to understand as he worked in England for several years before joining Sam. All the positive things you read about Sam equally apply to Upali so if you are booking with Sam and you get Upali relax, he is good!
We did meet Sam on a couple of occasions and he took as to the airport on our last day which showed that he takes a personal interest in all his clients. So thank you Sam and Upali for giving us a fantastic holiday, managing all the logistics which was not helped by Air Srilanka who managed to delay our arrival in Colombo by 44 hours (yes virtually two days!) which meant our daughter arrived before us and started the tour with us having to catch up.Sam and Upali sorted out the logistics, met our daughter as planned then came back to meet us at the airport two days later and took us to Pinnawala where we met our daughter who was happily watching the elephants all day. So thank you again and we would thoroughly recommend you two to anybody.

Visit Sri lanka with Samakoon tours with our host and now friend- Sam. Easily the best guide ever. He brought us to visit Yala national park and had a great time seeing all the animals in the wild. The guide/driver that Sam introduced to us could be the best sniper ever with his sharp eyes that spotted the leopard in the trees. Took me 1/2 a min to actually spot it. And we had an encounter of another leopard running across our truck in close proximity! Also, Sam's guide was also 30% cheaper than another service provider. Tasked elephants, deers, crocodiles, and birds were spotted in their natural habitat. It is really a great national park that one must visit when you are in Sri Lanka.

On the basis of the recommendations on Sam's website and having personally contacted some of the clients who have provided reviews, we decided to entrust the organisation of our dream family holiday to Sam. He accommodated all of our requests and provided a very clear breakdown of costs. Sam was to be our guide for the first 10 days of a two week holiday and agreed to meet us at the airport and drop us at the final hotel to relax with a few days on the beach at the end. It worked perfectly. The itinerary covered the key cultural sites, wildlife sanctuaries and a safari, together with the most stunning walks and views you could possibly wish for. Every aspect of the holiday was orchestrated to the finest detail and nothing was left to chance. For example, we took a memorable train ride up to Ella and Sam ensured we departed on the correct train and was there to meet us on arrival at the other end! Each day, we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and Sam chose the most wonderful places that I'm sure you would never find if you were by yourself (watching the elephants bathe in a river whilst having lunch was something we shall never forget). I'm sure there are many scams out there with shops and tour guides but you can rest assured that Sam does not get involved with this. The opposite in fact: Sam was always careful to point out the safe places to shop. To reinforce the point, we were taken to a jewellers and were not put under any pressure to purchase anything. However, the shop repaired my wife's engagement ring for £60 and we had previously had quotations for the work in the UK ranging from £500 upwards! Another point worth making is the balance struck between guiding you around the sites and leaving you to explore on your own: Sam does not try and overwhelm you with detail and makes sure that you have time to see and do what you want. We booked one hotel not on Sam's recommended list (but was highly rated on Trip Advisor) and that was a mistake. Sam was very clear that he did not know the hotel and could give no guarantee of its standard. When we arrived at the hotel it was a total disappointment but Sam stepped in and sorted everything out. We then went to the hotel on his recommended list (which was only £5 more expensive!) and the difference was amazing. Lesson: Sam knows the hotels extremely well so listen very carefully to his advice when booking and be very careful about the reviews on Trip Advisor. You really don't know the standards of the people who write these reviews but you can be absolutely assured of the standards Sam expects of his hotels. By the end of the tour, we felt as if we had seen and learned so much, and met the kindest and most generous people you could wish to meet. If you are thinking of visiting Sri Lanka and want to see what this truly beautiful country in all of its splendour, you really should book an accompanied tour and you will find no better guide than Sam. We were so sad to leave and felt that in Sam, we had made a true friend. Thank you so much and see you again in the future.

Sep-2014
Martin & Deborah Barlow
Cornwall, UK.
westways47@yahoo.co.uk

Star Rating for Samarakoontours
Tours

I’ve recently returned to the UK following a memorable holiday
in Sri Lanka organised and conducted by Mr Sam . Sam deserves praise for his
organisational skills, his careful driving and most importantly, his personal
touch. He had quite a challenge in creating a tour which would satisfy my
travelling companion, Ros and myself. Previously, I had been volunteering in
India for a three month period and planned to join Ros in Sri Lanka for a couple
of weeks holiday, one week into her month’s tour. Sam had the challenge of
designing a time-table and itinerary which would take our individual wishes into
account, at the same time avoiding undue duplication of highlight spots for Ros.
He more than succeeded in the task.

Sam is an experienced tour guide and it
showed. I was greeted warmly on arrival at Colombo Airport where I joined Ros on
her continuing journey and started my own. From the outset, relationships were
relaxed and friendly. We enjoyed Sam’s easy manner and company and the
respectful way he left us to have some private time at various points during the
day. We were looked after perfectly, safe in the knowledge that each day would
unfold another wonderful tour site/sight and an unforgettable experience.

Ros
and I were both keen to see as much wildlife as possible and Sam ensured that we
visited a number of game parks and wetlands. The variety of game and birdlife
was sumptuous. I was overawed by seeing elephants in their natural habitat in
two different locations, as well as at the famous elephant orphanage in
Pinnawala. The visits were well-researched and the local guides helpful and
reliable.

It is impossible not to be impressed with the beauty of Sri Lanka. Sam
ensured that we covered a considerable mileage in unhurried and absorbing
journeys. There was always something of interest, aside from our set programme,
along the way. You don’t need to read the detail of our trip – Sam can cater for
individual tastes - and he served us very well. We followed the coast, climbed
mountains, saw waterfalls, visited Hindu temples and Buddhist shrines. Our cup
was full!

Our holiday – and lucky Ros had a further week to come – more than met
our expectations. Thanks to Sam, we stayed in 3 and 4 star hotels which were
surprisingly within our budget. If you are considering a holiday in Sri Lanka –
don’t hesitate. Sam can organise it and it will be something that stays with you
forever.

Thank you so much every things yours prepare for my group. we were so appreciate with your service and take care us .So my group were safety arrival them home .
Thank you for every things and I hope your tour was successful as your wish too.

We spent two weeks in Sri Lanka and spent over half of that time with Sam. I am so glad we did. We usually use public transport and find our own way on holidays but this time decided to book Sam to be our driver and guide. It made the holiday and I would do the same again, especially when there is such limited time when there is so much to see and do in such a wonderful country.
He was friendly, organised, fun and very helpful. His car is great and he drives it very safely. He took us where we wanted to go but threw in a few places we would not have thought about or known about, it was this that made it so great. The only shops we stopped at were ones we had enquired about so no scams to be on the watch for. We learnt so much about the country, the people and the food by asking him questions and sitting with him for a cup of tea ( which we did a lot on our request!). We never however felt cramped by him as he seemed to know when to stay and chat and when to leave us to it.
It was the little things that made it so good. He surprised us regularly with gifts to make the trip easier such as toffees to have on the train and gifts to remember him and Sri Lanka. The best was when he found out it was my birthday and sneakily went and bought a birthday cake and candles and the guys working in the lodge that night came out and sang me happy birthday.
There is so much I could say. I really didn’t know what to expect when we booked Sam so many months ahead, but the experience turned out to be much more than I had anticipated. I would recommend anyone to get in touch with Sam and work with him to plan your trip and let him show you his fantastic country. When we left him with 4 days to go, to relax at the beach it was a sad parting for us all. He was not just a driver, but a guide and a friend who we will never forget.

Thank you very much for looking after us so well while we were in Sri Lanka. We enjoyed the trip very much. Your itinerary was very comprehensive and provided us with the opportunity to see so much of your beautiful country.

We had the best time and can't thank you enough for all that you did for us.
From the start of our 10 day tour you took us under your wing and looked after us as if we were your own children. Being on Honeymoon we wanted the best service and it couldn't have been better. You're a true gentleman and we'll never forget our experience.

Kabs& Bella

Dec-2013

Sam’s Sri Lanka Tour

For me the best part of the holiday. Sam met us at the airport and from that time on looked after us taking us to see the sites and explaining points of interest on the way. Sam was very flexible in his approach and nothing was too much trouble. Sam is also a very careful driver and we felt safe at all times with him.
The tour was ideal with high lights being the close sighting of a leopard in Yala national park and the temple of the tooth also the train trip to Ella. We enjoyed it all and would highly recommend Sam to anyone visiting Sri Lanka.

I M.A.Khalid and my wife visited sri lanka 9 night/10 days program with your tour and travel company
"Samarakoon Tours".
I am very pleased to inform you that this srilanka tour with you is very remembered in my life. This tour is very important for me as we traveled city to city.Your program and your system was very good very polite. We are very happy with your curtsy and your friendly behavior.
Thank you very much for 10 days visit.I hope we will come to join again with tour.
THANK AGAIN
M.A.KHALID. maksec@hotmail.com
MOB NO. 0092 3333644828
KARACHI
Sep-2013

We really enjoyed our 10 day family holiday in Sri Lanka in August 2013. We found Sam to be reliable,
helpful and flexible and would travel with him again.
Jill Vincent
jillvincent@ntlworld.com
August 2013

We were really impressed by the service of you and the perfect travel and holiday arrangements you took care of. The fact that you were able to always adjust the plans according the way we wanted to see and enjoy Sri Lanka is unique! The kids enjoyed your company and personality and we did as well! We consider you to be a distant friend forever!
Hans Severens-ellen@brantjesfashion.nl /severens@xs4all.nl
July 2013

My entire trip, including this visit to Horton's Plains, was organised by easily
the best guide we ever had- Mr Sam Samarakoon (http://www.samarakoon.com/). He
picked us up from the airport himself, customised the entire trip according to
our preferences, and brought us on completely local experiences. The trip was
perfectly comfortable (air-conditioned car, English guide, great hotels), and
never once did we feel like we were being taken for a ride. I can personally
vouch for his honesty, reliability and service attitude. Even when his relative
Anura (another wonderful wonderful guide) took over on the second half of our
tour, Sam constantly called to check on how we were doing. His prices are very
reasonable as well. Sam and Anura made our visit to Sri Lanka one of the best
trips we've been on, and we'll definitely go back again thanks to them.

We had such a wonderful time here
in Sri Lanka thanks to Samarakoon Tours.

Aruna is such a gentle and warm
person with excellent hospitality.

Without him, we could not have
had this fabulous trip .We definitely had blast
!

Hopefully, we’ll come visit here
again someday in the Near future and would like
to ask him again to do our tour .:)

Thanks you so much.

Yoko Nakatsu (yoyotaro@hotmail.com)
September -2012

Dear Sam

Thank you for your message. We
are all back home safely and back into our normal
routine.

We all had a very interesting time
in Sri Lanka and the children talk about it all
the time.

Chandima did a great job, so it
all worked out well. He was particular understanding
about travelling with little children, given that
he has some himself.

The self contained accommodation
(with laundry and kitchen) in Colombo, Kandy, Tangalle
and Hikkaduwa was very convenient for a family.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Regards

Alicia White (alicia@palfreeman.net)
July 2012

We have just returned from 2 weeks in Sri Lanka
and had an extraordinarily good trip. This was
a result of using a local guide/driver (Sam Samarakoon)
who organized everything for us - Hotels, best
clean places for meals, jeep drivers in national
parks, train trip etc. All hotels were good with
some exceptional, food was fantastic and we went
the whole trip with no tummy upsets – quite a
feat according to some.

He was also our driver and guide for the whole
trip and we would highly recommend his services
to anyone considering a tour of Sri Lanka. Very
careful driver and a pleasure to be around for
the 2 weeks - our kids (17 and 22) particularly
got on well with Sam and considered him more a
friend than just a guide.

Dr David Parks

Thanks again – hope to visit Sri Lanka again in
a few years and will contact you again there.

Kindest regards

David (dwptmp@tpg.com.au)
July 2012

Thanks for the great tour! Undoubtedly, one of
the best guides that we ever had. We really appreciate
the kind of care and the selection of places and
hotels that Sam chose for we travelled as a family
for 6 days around Sri Lanka....Highly recommended
for families.
--------- Jacobs from Bahrain , August,
2011
jacobbahrain@gmail.com

For your website may I suggest: -- '
We had an excellent 12 day tour with Mr Samarakoon
due in particular to his knowledge of Sri Lanka,
his local contacts to get things done, his experience
and driving ability and his pleasant character.
Despite a demanding and rather personalised tour
it was most enjoyable and we would strongly recommend
him. Henry, Christina and Greta Goodeve' My
best wishes Henry Goodeve.
.21-Aug-2011
goodeveh@cwgsy.net

I would like to thank you for the wonderful tour
you planned for us in Sri Lanka. The arrangements
were perfect and you were an excellent guide and
driver and I have no hesitation in recommending
you to anybody visiting Lanka. You were always polite
and well informed and had our best interests at
heart and the advise you provided was always good
and to our benefit. The hotels you booked were of
the quality and rating you had promised and we cannot
fault anything in the tour.
Wish you a long and happy career in tour operation!
Rgds,

Vasu (Vasu Methil <vmethil@hotmail.com>)
December-2010

I would really like to thank Sam so much for being
our tour guide at Sri Lanka. he's very proffesional..My
family and I really enjoyed our stay especially
at Dambulla.the hotel is great.Sam was friendly
and attentive. He's willing to go the extra miles
to bring us joy.I left some stuffs at a hotel and
he went back to collect it for me and promised to
send it to me via post. For those of you that is
comtempleting to hire Sam service, I would say"wait
no longer and contact him now" and you won't
regret choosing him, I would also like to thanks
Leslie for his patience while driving us around
in this beautiful country...

Christine A. malaysia (chris yong chrisyyy2@yahoo.com)

Octomber-2010

Thank you for a fabulous
trip. I had a great time and you were a fab host/
tour guide. Flexible with your arrangements and
great fun!!!!!

Bronwen Davies (bubbling.bronny@ntlworld.com)
January-2010

"…An arrival to Colombo (Sri Lanka) at 04:20am
couldn't be more scary, but our driver Sam was the
most reassuring one can be.

With Perfect English, a new shinning car, and perfect
manners; Sam takes us into a journey of two weeks
in the beautiful Sri Lanka.

During our journey Sam fulfilled all of our wishes
and with no doubt Sam had a major contribution to
a vacation that was not less than perfect.

Sri Lanka is not famous for its safe driving but
Sam during the whole vacation drove safely with
perfect driving skills, that often made us sleep
comfortably in the back of the car.

There is no doubt that opting for Sam as our guide
and driver gave us a wonderful vacation that we
will remember forever."

If you want a unique insight into the
life, history, culture and environment of Sri Lanka
that is beyond that of conventional touring, we recommend
you contact Sam Samarakoon. We had a wonderful fortnight
in this beautiful country and Sam proved to be both
a great guide and a good friend. He is totally honest,
completely reliable, caring and considerate, and he
has a wealth of local information which we found invaluable.
He was very flexible in helping us organize our trip
and took careful note of our needs and suggestions
in planning the itinerary and arranging the required
standard of accommodation. As an ex policeman Sam
is a skillful and careful driver - a prerequisite
where travelling conditions can be quite chaotic.
He has a wide range of excellent contacts when you
need specialist drivers or guides (such as a bird-watching
expert). He gave us good advice on everything from
places to eat, finding banks and internet cafes, ways
to save money and of course, information about the
places we visited – all without being intrusive –
and he has a good sense of humour. For the duration
of our time with him Sam was always patient, thoughtful
and focused totally on our needs – quote “If you are
happy, I am happy”. We have every confidence in recommending
him to others.

Bryan & Bronwyn Long (Australia) em brybron@aapt.net.au
July 2009

Thank you very much for a superb fast visit to
Sri Lanka, 4 days is not enough to do it justice.
The trip was planned well and the flexibility you
introduced around some items showed how well you
think on your feet and know the different aspects
that you show people around. I can't really pick
any one part out as being the best. Highlights are
plenty but I suppose the Charge of the wild elephants
on the safari might just edge it, all natural and
couldnt be planned.

Once again thanks for a good trip and attached
is a momento of our visit.
John & Stacey. (taylor.j.m@orange.net)
July 2009

A big thank you to you, Sam, for making
our holiday in Sri Lanka such a memorable experience.
Sri Lanka has a wealth of fascinating places to explore
but it was your kind attention to every last detail
that made the experience smooth, comfortable and fun.
Your connections across the whole of the island gave
us access to many more places than we would have been
without your guidance, including some excellent restaurants
and hotels. I enjoyed your company along the way as
we shared some wonderful adventures that will stay
in my memory for the rest of my life. I look forward
to being able to return to Sri Lanka in the future
and revisit some of my favorite places.

Jo Neave (joneave@westnet.com.au)March -2009

We are telling our friends here all about
you and hopefully, one day, someone will come!

'We have just had a really fabulous holiday with Sam
being our driver for a whole fortnight. He has been
an excellent guide and shown us so many great places,
without ever being pushy or insisting, if we wanted
something else. He was a careful, considerate driver
and made excellent choices for our hotels, also good
suggestions for restaurants. He was good company,
but at all times he respected our privacy. We had
plenty of time to ourselves, but he was always there
if we needed his advice or his transport!'

All your plans for us were great, and it was so
good to know that we could call on you at any time.
Nihal did a wonderful job in your absence, please
pass this on. We are so glad that you are now well.
Thank you again, we will recommend you to others.
Funnily enough some of our other friends we have
just heard, departed for Sri Lanka only few days
ago unbeknown to us.

It was a memorable trip with each day bringing
something new and exciting.
The guides, who Sam found for us, were courteous
and interesting, always taking time to answer our
questions.
The driver, supplied by Sam, in Yala Game Park was
outstanding. He seemed to find more animals than
any other, making sure that we saw leopards and
bears which we knew were very difficult to locate.
Sam is the kind of guide that everyone dreams of
having on a tour. He anticipates when he is needed
and also seems to know when you want to be left
alone.
Unlike other tour guides, he always leaves you alone
at lunch time to enjoy your food and chat.
Sam again came up trumps with our stop for lunch,
a beautiful fish restaurant right on the beach,
a menu so full of sumptuous food that it was almost
impossible to choose.
The journey by train through the mountains was wonderful,
the scenery just glorious and when we arrived at
Ella Motel, the views were stunning.
Sam provided us with a variety of places to stay
each one different in its own way .We enjoyed all
of them.

Just 2 days passed after our return home from wonderful
11 days vacation in Sri Lanka. It’s like to be in
another world. And this country really seems to
be the paradise on Earth.
And Sam Samarakoon was the man who gives us possibility
to see all the most beautiful and interesting places.
He knows all the best places to eat, to rest and
to see. Hotels were excellent and the prices for
services and hotels are very reasonable. Also he
is one of the most professional and safety drivers
I’ve ever seen. It is very important in Sri Lanka
– country with weird traffic, crazy bus drivers,
tuk-tuk “outlaws”, cows, dogs and other animals
on the road. He is highly recommended guide! We
are missing you, Sam. And hope visit your incredible
country again.
Thank you very much!

We had a wonderful 10 day tour with Sam in September.
Sri Lanka has so much variety and his itinerary
covered the main attractions very well. He is a
careful driver with good English and his local knowledge
meant that we were very satisfied with accommodation,
food and sight-seeing arrangements. I think a major
factor making our holiday enjoyable was the flexibility
that his style of touring offered. He was always
ready to make suggestions if we were 'templed-out',
for example, and to offer an interesting alternative.
We certainly hope to come to Sri Lanka again
and renew our acquaintance with him.

WE spend 8 wonderful days during our journey to
SRI LANCA in April 2008 with the driver Sam.
We experienced the wonderful parts of the island
and visited all the valuable archaeological sites.
Sam drived us safety and comfort.
The hotels were very good and we enjoyed our staying
in them
We thank for all Sam and recommend without any doubt
the trip to everyone.
We wish you everything better.

We enjoyed our tour with you very much, and have recalled
parts of it with laughter, such as - sliding
down from Dambulla / my shock when I saw the size of the
Prawns at the Restaurant / the joy of seeing the Tuk-Tuks,
and the way they could squeeze through any gap / the working
elephant and the baby elephants / water buffalo and cows
(while avoiding country pancake!) All very happy memories,
while enjoying the lovely hotels you booked us into. We
are very grateful to you for your driving expertise and
knowledge, and thank you so much for your care and concern.
I WILL send photographs with comments, but need my son to
help me do the computer work and he is away at the moment.
Be assured that I will do this as soon as I can. We both
hope you and your family had a good New Year. Our Hotel
served us the sweets on the Monday morning, and I very much
liked the sugar,milk squares. In Scotland we call this Tablet!
D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!! Will be in touch very soon and
will be thinking of you on the 19th. when you are touring
with the people from Greece.
Kindest regards Julia and Doreen.

We
were lucky enough to select “Sam” Samarakoon from an internet search to
be our chauffeur/guide for our tour of the beautiful island of Sri
Lanka from 26 January this year to 10 February.

Sam is
100% reliable. He arranged our hotel accommodation at very
competitive rates, changed arrangements during the tour when we wanted
to change itinerary or hotel without any additional charge. He
has a great knowledge of all the premier sightseeing areas of Sri Lanka
and can tailor itineraries to suit the energy and whims of his
customers.

As a driver he is very competent and always
careful, something which is very necessary to cope with the driving
conditions and hazards in his country. His honesty, helpfulness
and integrity are without question.

We count “Sam” as one
of our many friends around the world and hope that we can return his
hospitality should he ever visit UK.

Jo & John Pratt

johnagpratt@waitrose.com

Alec & Maria Hoffman

" We spent 10 memorable days with Sam in January 2008. We couldn't
recommend him highly enough. He is reliable, honest and great fun to be
with and went out of his way to make our trip a huge success. Sam's car
is very comfortable and his driving impeccable, no doubt in part due to
his time spent as traffic cop in Colombo. All of the hotels that Sam
arranged were great and everything was organized perfectly. We will
remember the many conversations that we had with Sam - his insights into
the Sri Lankan way of life really enhanced the whole experience for us
and he has some great stories to tell!